J.R. Carroll, a talent who’s been standing just 20 feet from stardom, is finally getting his due with his Dark Cloud – his debut album. A member of Zach Bryan’s band and fellow Oklahoman, Carroll has spent years honing his own polished country tunes. In fact, he was one of the first people Bryan turned to when he began his own rise to the top.
Americana has often been an all-encompassing genre that, while closely circling a particular sound, the style can be inconsistent. Dark Cloud is an incredible Americana album. Carroll, who got his start in Oklahoma’s Red Dirt scene, is first and foremost a songwriter, brimming with deep resonating lyrics that prove this to be true. While his songs structure lean toward country – queue the banjo, fiddle, and pedal steel guitar – the emotional core of his music transcends genres. What I’m trying to say is, that even if you’re not a country fan, Carroll’s beautifully crafted songs are sure to leave an impact.
Carroll wrote the 10 songs you hear on Dark Cloud over the course of many years and finally recorded them over an 18 month span while on a breaks from touring with the aforementioned Zach Bryan, sometimes finding it difficult to summon both the energy and mental capacity to do so.
“I’m only doing things that I really want to do,” Carroll says. “I’m not actively trying to market myself to a wider audience. I’m happy where I’m at. I’m respected by the people I wanted to be respected by when I started this. If it grows, that’s great, and I’ll be a good steward of whatever comes from it, but I already have a job that keeps me busy all year.”
Dark Cloud may very well catapult J.R. Carroll to center stage – whether he seeks it or not. But for music lovers, that’s a development worth celebrating.
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